Bed covering



Nov. 12, 1940. g M S HWAR Z 2,221,114

BED COVERING Filed Aug. 23, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet l fQAA/K M. Sex/M41272 Gtto'meg Jmaentor Nov. 12, 1940- F. M. SCHWARTZ BED COVERING Filed Aug. 23, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 3nventor FRANK M. SCHWARTZ (Iflomeg Patented Nov. 12, 1940 BED COVERING Frank M. Schwartz, Mount Vernon, N t Y.

Application August 23,

3 Claims.

This invention relates to bed coverings provided with means for yieldingly holding the same in position on a bed or the like.

One object of the invention is to provide a bed covering with means for holding the same in position while allowing for movement of the covering away from the upper surface of the mattress in response to movements of the occupant of the bed.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bed covering with retaining means therefor arranged to permit projection at either side thereof of parts of the retaining means for attachment of said parts to relatively fixed parts of the bed whereby the bed covering can be placed with one side or the other next to the mattress as may be desired, the covering being thus reversible.

A further object of the invention is to provide a bed covering such as a quilt or a comforter with retaining or holding-down means substantially concealed therein and capable of being readily assembled with the severallayers of the quilt or comforter in the manufacture thereof.

A further object of the invention is generally to provide a quilt or comforter with retaining or holding-down means which is effective for its purpose without adversely affecting the appearance of the quilt or comforter.

The above object of the invention and other objects which might hereinafter appear will be fully understood from the following description considered with reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part of the present specification, it being understood that said drawings are to be considered asillustrative of the invention but not in limitation thereof.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a bed-covering shown in position on a bed, a corner portion of said covering being turned up for the purpose of illustration;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section view on the line 22 of Figure 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view, on a larger scale, of the comforter illustrative in Figure 1, several layers in a corner portion of the comforter being turned back to illustrate the construction;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4--4 of Figure 3;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5-5 of Figure 3;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on the line 66 of Figure 3;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view similar to Figure 2,

1939, Serial No. 291,457

illustrating another way of attaching the retaining device of the bed-covering to the bed.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the bed-covering Ill, here shown as a quilt or comforter, provided with the retaining members l2 which extend transversely of the covering, preferably internally thereof between adjacent layers of the material of the covering. Said retaining members I2 are disposed preferably as shown near the opposite transverse ends of the comforter. Said comforter is provided with small openings I4 through whichopposite end portions l6 of said retaining members 12 extend, when the covering is attached to the bed for releasable securement to straps l8 fastened as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 to the side rails 20 of the bed. For this purpose portions I 6 of members l2 are provided with looped ends or eyelets 22 which are engageable with buttons 24 carried by straps I8 whereby said end portions of retaining members I2 can be readily attached to and detached from fastening straps I 8.

The construction of the comforter and of the retaining means therefor will now be more specifically described, with particular reference to Figs. 3 to 6 of the drawings. Except as herein otherwise specified, the comforter may be of any conventional "construction, and as usual comprises covering layers 26 of satin or any other suitable fabric and intervening layers 28 of wool or other suitable filling material, said layers being stitched together in unitary relation by intersecting lines 30 of quilting stitching.

Retaining members l2 consist of elastic straps and preferably possess a lazy stretch whereby said straps possess sufiicient tension to hold the comforter in position but do not provide excess resistance to elongation when the comforter is moved away from the mattress by the occupant of the bed. As clearly shown in Figure 3 retaining member l2 comprises two elastic strands or cords 32 which have their ends formed into said loops 22, for which purpose said strands are secured together adjacent said loops as indicated 34. Members l2 are positioned between fabric strips 36 which extend transversely of the covering and are secured in said position by said quilting stitching 30. By referring to Fig. 6 it will be observed that openings 14 in the comforter are stitched at their edges as indicated at Ma and that said stitching passes through one of strips 36 and the adjacent layers 28 and 26 of the comforter. It will also be observed that adjacent each corner of the comforter there is a pair of openings l4 which are in alignment with each other and adjacent to the companion looped end 22 of retaining member I2 so that said looped end of the retaining member can be drawn, optionally, through either of the pair of aligned openings l4. Fabric strips 36 are preferably stitched together longitudinally thereof by spaced lines of stitching 38 thereby forming a tube which houses retaining member l2. Also said strips are stitched together near the ends thereof as indicated at 40 forming the tube with closed ends for retainin the looped ends 22 of member l2 in position near the adjacent pair of openings i4. Movement of said looped ends 22 inwardly of the tube toward each other is prevented by the buckle 42. Said buckle has a central bar 44 positioned between slots through which cords 32 extend. Said central bar 44 and the end bar 45 engage the united portions 34 of cords 32 to limit the inward movement of said ends. Buckle 42 is secured to adjacent strip 36 by fabric straps 46 looped over the opside bars of said buckle and stitched to adjacent strip 36. Buckle 42 also constitutes means to guide the end portion l6 of retaining member l2 to a position adjacent companion openings l4 and serves also as a smooth bearing to reduce the friction of the end portion of retaining member l2 against the adjacent parts of the comforter whereby to facilitate movement of said end portion of the retaining member through the companion openings l4.

Another buckle 48 is secured to the fabric strip 36 by fabric straps 50 in position to overlie buckle 42 and to constitute a friction reducing device or bearing for the end portion Hi of retaining member [2 when the latter is projected through the opening l4 in the adjacent layers of the comforter.

It will be understood that any suitable means may be provided for attaching the looped ends 22 of retaining members l2 to a relatively fixed part of the bed, thus for example instead of the straps l8 attached to the side rails of the bed, there may be utilized a strap 52 in the manner illustrated in Fig. 7 with said strap in position between mattress M and the spring S and having upwardly extending end portions 54 provided with buttons 56 or similar fastening means for the releasable attachment thereto of the looped ends 22 of the retaining members l2. It will be understood further that the elastic retaining members I2 can be formed otherwise than as herein shown, for example, from a flat strip consisting of elastic material or comprising sections of elastic fabric together with sections of inelastic fabric. Also if desired straps I8 may be elastic in whole or in part so that it can stretch and contract and likewise strap 52 can consist of or include elastic material so that it is elastic in whole or in part and can stretch and contract. Other changes in the details of construction and in the arrangement of parts can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Accordingly while I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that the latter mat be embodied otherwise than as herein shown. Therefore, I do not wish to be limited precisely to the form of the invention as herein shown or described except as may be required by the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A bed covering comprising two layers of suitable covering material and having spaced openings in at least one of said layers, and a holddown device disposed between said layers and substantially concealed thereby, and having parts extending through said spaced openings respectively, for securement to relatively fixed parts of the bed whereby to hold the covering on the bed, said hold-down device being elastic and dimensioned so that in the relaxed condition thereof said attaching parts are disposed inwardly of and in position adjacent said openings between said layers.

2. A bed covering comprising two layers of suitable covering material and having spaced openings in at least one of said layers, and a hold-down device disposed between said layers and substantially concealed thereby, and having parts extending through said spaced openings respectively, for securement to relatively fixed parts of the bed whereby to hold the covering on the bed, said hold-down device being elastic and dimensioned so that in the relaxed condition thereof said attaching parts are disposed inwardly of and in position adjacent said openings between said layers, and means for releasably holding said attaching parts in said position.

3. A bed covering comprising two layers of suitable covering material and having spaced openings therethrough, and a hold-down device disposed between said layers and substantially concealed thereby, and comprising an elastic strap disposed transversely of the covering and having its ends disposed inwardly of said openings in position adjacent thereto, respectively, said ends being movable through said openings, upon partial elongation of said strap, for attaching said strap ends to parts of the bed for securing the covering, and means for releasably holding said strap ends in said position adjacent said openings when the strap ends are detached.

FRANK M. SCHWARTZ. 

